Ben VaughnPresident-Veo for one of Nashville’s top publisher, Warner Chappell Nashville, died Thursday morning at the age of 49. No cause of death was given immediately.
A memo sent to personnel from Warner Chappell Music co -chairman Guy Moot and Carianne Marshall, obtained by AmountReads as follows:
“To everyone at WMG, it is with broken hearts that we share the unthinkable news that Ben Vaughn, President and CEO of Warner Chappell Nashville, died this morning. Our deepest condolences are with his family and many friends.
“Ben has been led our Nashville team since 2012, and we know that many of you around the world got to know him over the years. Anyone who had the pleasure of working with him will be as shocked and sad as we are. First and foremost, Ben was an extraordinary person. He met everyone with enthusiasm, warmth and generosity. His smile was huge and his humor was contagious.
“He was always a passionate advocate for songwriters and a topflight music publisher. The Nashville community has lost one of his greatest champions, and he will be deeply missing by so many in our entire company and the entire industry. We plan to visit the Nashville team soon and thank you all for helping them through this terrible tragedy.
“With love, guy & carianne”
Vaughn got up through the trail at a relatively early age and became one of the youngest managers in Nashville who led a large publishing company when he became EVP and GM for EMI Music Publish. ,, was named one of the 40 under 40, and found Success when signing the then ok note as country star Thomas Rhett to their publishing agreement.
Vaughn joined Warner Chappell in 2012 and was appointed president in 2017 before he was held as President-CEO 2019.
“I think that the big lesson for myself and that I always tell people in the publishing world, who, just make sure you come across your ass for songwriters,” said Vaughn in an interview in 2021 with Podcaster Zak Kuhn. “If you do it and make it intelligent and do it with the right motifs, things can work. Because people notice who the people are working and who the people are not working. “
Vaughn grew up in a family in blue collar in the small town of Sullivan, Kentucky. As high school students, he started working part -time at a local radio station, WMSK. He moved to Nashville to go to college at Belmont University, where he interviewed for a student assignment a songwriter signed to Warner Chappell and got an internship within two weeks after moving to town. He eventually landed a job at a partner company by Warner Chappell’s, Big Tractor Music.
After six years at Big Tractor, he was contacted for a job at EMI and served in the creative department for seven years before raising the company when he was 34. “I was the youngest person who did it, which was nuts,” he told Musicrow. “The managers at EMI gave me a lot of confidence and I worked really hard to earn it. It was a fantastic experience to be with that company. We helped many songwriters to break through who have become some of the greatest writers and artists in the format. “
After EMI was divided into a merger and the publishing page ended with Sony, he took a short break before he was hired back at Warner Chappell, who “has really been one of the best things I have ever received in my life,” he said. ” have to go back to a company where I started as a trainee. How cool is that
By 2020, Vaughn Billboards Country Power Players Exec of the Year was named. Warner Chappell Publishing was a common winner at the annual BMI, ASCAP and Sesac Awards in Nashville, with the subsidiary Warner-Tamerlane Publishing was named Publisher of the Year at the latest BMI country’s prices in November, with Vaughn who was present for the award.
Vaughn was preceded in death by his wife, Carlee Ann Vaughn, who died in August 22 after a 15-year-old struggle with brain cancer. They had been married since 1998.
